Play date with Lord Ares
by Lady Augustin
Summary: Xena is five years old when she meets the ever some handsome God of War


**Story Summary: **In this one-shot, Xena is five years old when she meets the ever some handsome God of War.

**Copyright Disclaimer:** No copyright infringement intended, I do not own Xena nor the characters of the Xenaverse. Characters belong to Renaissance Pictures and MCA/Universal studios.

**Special Thanks:** Special thanks to my sweet editor and muse Xentrya aka Hunney Bunney. You always go above an beyond when helping me, I really do appreciate everything that you have done for me my sweet friend :D...Also, I want to thank Zandrel for helping me and motivating me to post this story.

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That Wednesday started as an ordinary one for the adventurous and even a bit mischievous five years old Xena…. She was on her normal outing with her father Atreus to visit Lord Ares's temple.

Atreus felt that he needed to bring along his little daughter to his Protector's temple because he truly believed that one day; the child would have all the chances in the world to become High Priestess to the Olympian God's service. He was undoubtly aware what an unspeakable honor would have been for his own Flesh and Blood to be rewarded with such an important title. Consequently, the overly careful father had every intention of prepping Xena for the role of a skillful Warrior and a dedicated servant of Lord Ares. Little did he know that particular day was going to be the day his daughter would first meet her future Patron God.

While Atreus was off making the usual offerings and prays to the implacable War God, the raven child decided to go off and explore the vast temple that for her represented at the moment nothing more than an infinite playground, a mysterious labyrinth which offered so many interesting possibilities to find out new things. After all, as her Daddy used to say, one day, not very far away in time she could be a Priestess there so she might as well learn all the ropes, and given her utter intelligence and cleverness-despite her tender age- discovering everything that was to discover about the place wouldn't have to be to great a challenge after all.

Expertly making use of her natural, outstanding ability to see what was beyond things and of her surprisingly strategic vision, the girl began looking around for secret passages, and it was but a matter of minutes before she literally stumbled upon one. Without thinking too much about the possible consequences of venturing through the dark corridor that she had no idea whatsoever where it led, Xena soon found herself walking directly in Lord Ares' throne room.

She involuntarily let out a noisy gasp of surprise…The large room was amazing like none other she had previously seen. The marble floor was covered almost completely by unique plush rugs that were soft as silk and as thick as moss…. Strange looking weapons were adorning the walls giving the room the impression of a Museum, a grave and somber look that was softened a bit the playful flames of the candles that were richly brightening up the place…..

A few steps away from her, she noticed the large marble altar with its vast amount of priceless offerings ranging from food and drinks to weapons and scented oils…. But what made the room the best, little Xena thought, was that stunning stone chiseled throne that stood as the masterpiece of the grandiose room.

Again, with no shade of fear or worry in her eyes, she decided to explore the entire room, convinced that peeping and seeing where each and every door led to was like the best idea she had ever had.

Thus, in no time she was standing before the first door, which she actually encountered way to heavy for her to open. Consequently, she opted for opening a smaller door which was just inches away from the first one but the presence of which – as she was to discover-was by far about to satisfy her boundless, inborn curiosity…. Behind it, there was no treasure, no magic items, no nothing, with the exception of a few dusty, discarded Priestess robes that were way to large for her small form anyway.

Still, her face lit up with excitement almost instantly, as the idea of new game invaded her mind: she would get dressed and perform the role of Lord Ares' Head Priestess.

Little did Xena know that a very irritated Ares would soon be gracing her with his presence. Indeed, the Son of Zeus was coming back from an uneventful War in Corinth with his Sister Athena, and, searching for a bit of tranquility, he decided to do some rounds around his temples to see what kind of offerings his followers left him.

For some odd reason, the leather clad God felt that particular day was going to be different but for the life of him he had no idea what could possibly make the difference in the boring routine of his immortal existence.

In a blue shower of lights, Ares ethered into his temple in Amphipolis, deciding nonetheless to keep the invisibility shield active…. There was no point in gaining any unnecessary attention, and plus, he was definitely not in the mood for being harassed by his crazy Priestesses.

At first, he failed to notice the cute little ravened haired ball of energy, so after gazing briefly at the common offering laying on his altar, he took a sit on his throne, just like he normally did, legs straddled to the side like he owned the place …. which he obviously did.

Mortal as she was, it was impossible for Xena to perceive the cocky Olympian, but something strange happened though: as soon as Ares materialized into the room she could sense a very unusual chill go up and down her spin, an unique mixture of fear and inexplicable attraction that filled her little body like nothing before ever did. Her piercing blue eyes quickly began to look for the source of her inquietude.

At first she saw nothing, but, seconds later though she could distinctly observe the contour of a weird presence….It was obviously a man, a stranger sitting in Ares' throne.

The mere sight of someone taking her Lord's place made Xena's blood boil.

_"How dare he sit in my Lord's throne?!"_ she said to herself, outraged by the blasphemy.

She decided right then and there that she would show this stranger a thing or two. Without loosing any more precious time, the girl slowly crept to the altar and grabbed a small dagger then, carefully but with remarkable grace and agility she made her way to the intruder that dared sit in her Lord's throne.

Ares who was way to busy with mentally planning a strategy against his bitchy Sister, had no clue that a little girl with sparkly blue moons, long raven hair, and wearing an over-sized priestess robes was menacingly holding a dagger at sculpted body.

He nearly jumped on his feet when he heard a sharp voice addressing him:

"Sir, I would advise you to move your person from Lord Ares' throne, my Lord would very upset if he came back to find someone taking his place."

Turning his head in the direction of the voice, Ares felt the need to blink a couple of times in order to make sure that he was not seeing things.

"_Surely this child isn't talking to me...For that matter how can she even see me I'm cloaked for crying out loud."_

Xena on the other hand was getting quite aggravated at the strangers' nonchalant defiance and she made sure to let him know just how upset she was, aggressively pointing the dagger straight to Ares's heart.

"I hate repeating myself ok? So do yourself a favor and remove yourself from my Lord's throne before I make you do it..."

To his utter surprise, the God could see the determination in those beautiful moons of hers, and, he quickly realized that despite her insignificant age, the little child would definitely attempt to remove him from his own throne, no doubt about it.

Drilling her with his gaze, he couldn't tell if he was more baffled by the fact that the girl was able to see him or by that outrageously bold attitude she seemed to display. All his previous aggravation had vanished instantly…he was way too curious about who that special creature standing before him was to think about anything else.

"Who're you?!" he briefly inquired, trying not to sound too harsh.

Xena looked a couple of moments at the stranger who was cunningly trying to distract her from her mission.

"I am Xena, future High Priestess to Lord Ares, and you will not distract me from my mission, so get up already!" she stated, in a matter of fact tone.

Ares gave a soft chuckle to the little girl and stood slowly, deciding to play her game and obey her order.

The raven haired girl followed his every move… She couldn't help noticing that the man was extremely tall. He was wearing a large sword and was completely clad in black leather. Her eyes lingered a second or two more on the well sharpened, shining weapon. The sight of it excited Xena, who couldn't wait to grow up already so that she could have her very own sword.

"You like this?" the God asked the instant he caught her gaze.

"Me and my brothers' sword fight all the time, my father is teaching us to be great warriors to serve Lord Ares. One day I will have my own sword. I will be the greatest Warrior ever."

Ares licked his lips slowly, totally intrigued by the child's captivating personality.

"Does your father allow you to play with swords?! You don't even seem to have the physical capability of holding a real sword."

Xena looked down to the floor sheepishly.

"Well they are wooden." Then she looked the stranger in the eyes with a wave of defiance "But that's not important. What matters is that when I grow up I will replace wood with steel and I will have my very own army, and everyone will praise my name…"

Ares could only grin…. This girl child was indeed one of a kind.

"Where is your father?"

Xena studied him for a second before answering.

"My father is making our weekly offerings to Lord Ares."

The God musingly ran his hand along his beard… He had obviously forgotten all about the girl holding the dagger towards him.

"Well, since you are no longer a threat do you want to play Lord and Priestess?" her resonant voice broke out like a symphony.

Ares just stared at the small sparkling blue eyed child as if he hadn't understood the question. In exchange, Xena gave him a very audible, annoyed sigh.

"I will be your dedicated and loyal High Priestess and you will be Lord Ares."

The God was struck speechless: this little cute girl child wanted to play, and, for some odd reason that only the Fates could have cursed; he felt the need to oblige her. She did seem to have the ability to get whatever her little heart desired.

After a few brief moments of silence he answered.

"Sure, why not...It's not like I have anything better to do…."

The look on young Xena' face was priceless… perfect naive, childlike joy danced across her features. One could tell she was more than happy that she had found a play mate, but she straightened up very fast putting on a face of utter indifference like it didn't matter at all if they actually played or not.

"Now you go sit in Lord Ares throne."

Ares gave her a disoriented look: just a few minutes before, she was ready to stab him in the heart with that tiny blade for having dared take "her Lord's place" and now she was telling him to sit there.

"I thought you said Lord Ares would be displeased if I sat on his throne..?"

Xena gave the Olympian a mischievous look.

"Well he won't be mad since we will be playing Lord and Priestess." she spoke with such superiority that left Ares agape.

It still amazed Ares how intellectual this little child was for her age. Plus, she definitely had the grace of one that was of Royal Blood, a true Princess, and not a mere village girl.

In no time, he was sitting in his throne again, while; Xena was walking away, carefully placing the dagger back on the altar.

She soon headed for the closet and, slowly opening the door, she entered. Bemusement painted all over his figure, Ares was patiently waiting to see what she was up to. Two seconds later, he heard her knocking. He decided to play along.

"Enter!"

Xena came forth from the closet and made her way towards 'Lord Ares" bowing her head in respect.

"Is there anything you need my Lord?...How may your loyal Priestess serve you today?..."

Totally lacking imagination at the moment, Ares couldn't really think of anything specific for her to do, but he could tell that little Xena was eagerly expecting a task to fulfill...The last thing he wanted was to disappoint his sweet worshiper, so, he finally cleared his throat and spoke:

" Xena…. Your Lord is feeling a bit thirsty, so would you mind fetching me something to drink from the altar?"

The child hurriedly tried to do what her God commanded, but, sad thing though, all the drinks and goblets were in the middle of the altar and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't reach them.

Noticing her distress, Ares decided to make things easier for her, so he made an already filled goblet appear on the other corner so she could reach it easily.

"I do believe that goblet is full my dear priestess." He spoke in a sugar laced voice.

Xena scanned the goblet attentively….. she didn't recall its presence there earlier. She just shrugged it off though and, carefully grabbing it with both of her tiny hands, as gracefully as she was possibly able to and without tripping over the over-sized robes, she took the drink to "Lord Ares".

She reached the goblet to him and bowed her head waiting for a reply.

Watching her bow before him, the Olympian couldn't help thinking that was the cutest thing he had ever seen in his life. He decided to grace her with an answer before she felt that she didn't do a good enough job.

"Thank you my priestess."

He didn't realize it at the moment, that was for sure, but he was growing a bond with the adorable blue eyed girl child.

Xena rose up and watched Ares leisurely sipping from his goblet.

"My Lord….?" she spoke in a low, suave voice.

"Yes?"

"I have a request…."

Ares gazed at her expectantly.

"When I turn 16, I want you to give me an army of my own, so that I can protect my village from those who seek to harm us."

The God looked at the girl calculatingly….. He could tell she was serious, but then again she was just a child, what did she know? Plus, they were only playing….. he decided that there was no harm in answering her given that she had no idea who she was actually talking to.

"I might just do that, little Princess….But what would you offer in return?"

Xena gave Ares a quick sneer, seemingly ignoring his question.

"I'm not a Princess, I'm a Warrior."

In exchange, Ares gave her a small grin.

"Well how about my little Warrior Princess."

Xena seemed to think it over.

"Lord Ares I find that acceptable." She finally said with a big smile…."So what is it you want for the army?"

Ares arched an eyebrow.

"What do you offer?"

"Well…I don't have money…" she replied with a sigh.

"We should figure out something else….." Ares encouraged, smiling lovingly at her…'How about you serving me forever?"

"Hmm….I don't know….I will serve you anyway given that I will be your Priestess…."

"Not as a Priestess, as my Chosen…." The God clarified, scanning her face to read her reaction.

"Well…what does a Chosen do?" the girl inquired, the term being completely unfamiliar to her.

"Whatever her Patron God commands her to do…."

"But so does a Priestess" she contradicted.

"Well… there's a special bond between a God and his Chosen….They become one…" he continued.

"Ok…" little Xena simply concluded, having no idea what that meant…

"Well I guess you have yourself a deal little doll." Ares said with a broad smile.

For the following couple of hours, Xena proceeded to tell him about her life and her family, and Ares amazingly sat there and listened through it all. Time didn't even seem to have a meaning while he listened to his little Princess. He just kept gazing at her, intrigued till one interesting part of the conversation came up.

"When I get older you are going to train me to be the best warrior the world has ever known...I will be your Chosen, your high priestess...Once I conqueror the world in your honor I will be your wife and the mother to your heirs..."

Ares was in the middle of swallowing his drink but at that moment it decided to go down the wrong hole and choke him.

Xena looked to her Lord and asked in the cutest innocent voice.

"Are you okay my Lord?"

The God just looked at her in shock for a few seconds. This little girl had her whole future already planned and everything surrounded him. He had already proclaimed her to be his future Chosen and she had innocently continued with the title of wife, and mother to his heirs. On the other hand Ares had never been in love and he had no intention of settling down…. not in this life time not in any lifetime for that matter.

She was different he would give her that, but did she really think she could change the God of War? He answered her earlier question but he couldn't help but wonder was he answering her question or the question he just asked himself.

"Yeah kid, sure..."

Xena gave him a small giggle.

"Your funny Lord Ares, I can't wait till I'm old enough to serve you."

He unwillingly gave the child a sexy grin.

"I'm sure it will be an honor for you to serve me little Xena."

Before the girl could answer his question though, she could here her father calling. The ceremony was probably over.

"Xena, Where in Tartarus are you?"

The girl shrunk down a little. She knew she would be in trouble …. she had forgotten all about her father while playing with her new friend.

"I'm sorry Lord Ares but I must go now, my father calls."

Ares gave her a mock smile.

"Are you saying that you're going to let your father get in the middle of your duties as my Priestess?"

Young Xena shook her head.

"Never my Lord, I'll be back next Wednesday I promise."

The God gave her a small smile and stood from his throne, walking Xena to another passage leading her directly to the main halls.

"I'll see you soon my little Warrior Princess."

Xena gave her supposed Lord Ares a big smile and a deep bow.

"Until Wednesday, my Lord."

She didn't even see him disappear, just like she didn't hear the echo of his line:

"Until then my dear, until then.

Xena rushed to find her father so she could tell him all about her day. Little did she know that Ares was still watching her and that she was no longer wearing her acquired robes.

Upon seeing her father she ran to him and stopped right in front of him, like a military solider at attention.

"Daddy, guess what?"

"There you are Xena, where have you been?!."

"I've been serving as High Priestess with Lord Ares."

Atreus shook his head… She had been either off sleeping somewhere, had an imaginary friend, or she had found her a new play mate but he knew for a fact that Ares actually playing with a child was out of the question.

"That's nice Xena, it's time to go home now."

Xena looked at him with her large sparkly eyes.

"We are coming back Wednesday right? I promised Lord Ares that I would be back every Wednesday."

Atreus just smiled at his daughter.

"Sure we will come back Xena, we wouldn't want to upset Lord Ares."

The girl took that moment to look around because she was again having the feeling of being watching. She immediately laid eyes upon her playmate, the supposedly Lord Ares.

She did a cute curtsey in his direction. The God was still wondering how she could see him when nobody else in the room was able to see him.

"Hear that Lord Ares, I do keep my promises and I will see you next week."

Ares just nodded his head in her direction, not wanting to be heard by anyone.

Xena looked at her father.

"Father, aren't you going to show your respects to Lord Ares?"

Atreus had come to conclusion that Xena had come up with a little imaginary friend, he decided to amuse his child, knowing that if he didn't, she would probably make a fuss. Consequently, he gave a deep bow in the direction where Xena imaginary friend was.

"Alright Xena, now it's time to go."

Xena smiled brightly up at her father before turning back to Lord Ares with a look of utter defiance and determination.

"Lord Ares you better not forget your promise or are arrangements, when I am older!"

Atreus thought nothing of his daughter's words, he simply turned away leading them away from his Patron God's temple.

Steps away from them, Ares let out a slight chuckle before ethering back to his throne room. Thoughts of Xena were plaguing his mind….he was curious what she would look like when she was older.

"Older indeed" he said out loud.

With a wave of his hand an image appeared before him.

The image was of a beautiful Warrior with long black tresses, blue steely piercing moons, and a leather battle outfit. She was on top of a magnificent yellow mare, and she was skillfully wielding a sword in battle. Just by looking, one could tell this beautiful creature had many skills; by the way she handled her sword, alone.

The War God was amazed….. watching the image of what Xena was to become, he realized that he might not have any problems in keeping his promise to his little Warrior. He closed the portal after awhile, deep in thought, already anticipating all about their next meeting and what the future would hold for him and that cute child.

"..My little Xena… my little Warrior Princess"

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_Reviews are Highly appreciated :) _


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